Painful memories of his past
by TheSkySpiritsTalentShow
Summary: Kowalskis past wasnt easy. At all. Then something happened that changed everything. Genre changed to Tragedy, BTW.
1. Five

„Here are your math tests back. You all did well, except you Matt can use a little practice." Ms. Gold handed the ice-blocks to each penguin. When she got to the last one, she beamed proudly. "Well done, Kowalski. You´ve got 25\30. Higher than anyone else here." The tall penguin smiled politely, but then frowned at his block. He would´ve overheard the bell that signaled the end of school, if some kids hadn´t accidently bumped into his desk in their hurry to get outside.

Kowalski slowly walked through the school yard where the remaining chicks waited for their parents to either pick them up or for their friends to come out of the huge ice cave they used as school. The penguin´s blue eyes were still focused at his test. Five mistakes. Five stupid mistakes. "Hey, Ko." His friend Rico joined him. "Hi Rico." "What´s wrong?" "Nothing…" Rico followed his friend´s frustrated gaze to the block. "Hey, cheer up! Nobody ever go this high!" Kowalski didn´t respond. The other walked with him for a few moments till he grinned and playfully punched the smart penguin. "Don´t let five lousy mistakes get you down." Rico then slid away with four other friends who were heading to toward a huge ice-ramp where they practiced some tricks on planks used like skate-boards. Kowalski watched him slide away, then picked up his pace, sighing. His father hated it when he comes home late.

The trouble is, Kowalski´s dad hated mistakes. More than anything, even tardiness. Right now, he was glaring at his son´s test. The young penguin fidgeted nervously, knowing what the harsh look meant. "Kowalski…" His father started slowly. "Yes sir?" The elder showed him the ice-block with the five red marks. "What´s this?" Kowalski lowered his eyes, not answering. A slap quickly brought his gaze back. "What are these marks?" "Mistakes." His father slapped him again. "Mistakes. You made five mistakes." "….." Another slap. "Yes sir. But the test was so hard, I couldn´t-" The third hit. "Of course you couldn´t!" The other penguin hissed. "Did you think I wanted a failure as a son?" Kowalski quickly shook his head to avoid being smacked again, but it came anyway. "That´s all you are! A failure! Go to your room. I don´t want to see you till tomorrow!" The last final slap, but it hurt more than ever. It let Kowalski know just how much of a difference five can make. The penguin quickly obeyed, closing the door quietly. He stood there for second, feeling tears well up. Finally he moved and dazedly stumbled over to where his bed was. Outside, he heard some kids playing and laughing, others yelling in encouragement or fright to some daredevils, Rico amongst them. The youngling climbed into his snow bunk. He wished he could be with the others. Happy, carefree, like Rico. He still felt the burning pain of the five slaps his father gave him. Soon, is eyes grew heavy. While falling asleep, Kowalski vowed to never make a mistake again. Never.

A\N: I might just continue this….depends on several things…R&R! ^,^


	2. Meeting up

A\N: Thanks for the reviewers who commented on the first chapter! ^_^

He was being neglected and he knew it. But his father was very stern, if he wasn´t home by eight thirty, Dad will close the door and lock it, forcing him to stay outside. "Look at the bright side," Kowalski told himself as he shivering in a cave. "At least this will teach me to be obedient and a better son." He smiled, not able to wait for the next morning when he can come home next morning and prove to his father that he learned his lesson and will apologize to him. "I´m sorry for being so misbehaved, Dad…" Kowalski murmured, closing his eyes as he fell asleep.

"Kowalski? Kowalski…." A gentle, soft voice floated into his hearing. "Five more minutes…make that ten…" Kowalski muttered, turning over and cuddling into something warm and soft. A laugh was heard, it sounded familiar. Rico. "Kowalski, come on! You fell asleep." ´Of course, it was night time.´ Then he realized this wasn´t his father. First, he didn´t sound like that and second, he never woke him up so kindly. He remembered, he needed to get home before Dad worries about him! The penguin jerked up, knocking someone down in the progress. He blinked at the bright light, seeing three strange penguins around him. The scientist rubbed his eyes, then looked around again. "Um, Kowalski?" "Wh-what?" The genius realized he was hugging Private. "Oh, sorry. Where´s Skipper?" Rico laughed again and pointed to the floor. Skipper sat on it, rubbing his beak where Kowalski had rammed into him. "Sorry, Skipper! I didn´t-" It´s okay, soldier!" The leader chuckled and stood up again. "Well, let´s call it a day, boys." The team except Kowalski grabbed some papers and headed out of the door. Skipper looked back, seeing his soldier behind at the table, his head resting in his flippers. "Kowalski? What´s wrong, soldier?" The genius barely looked up. "Nothing, Skipper, just thinking." Skipper nodded, then playfully punched his shoulder area. "Don´t think too much." Kowalski nodded, thinking that this scene felt a tad familiar.

Skipper soon got him out of there, telling him that Private wanted to pick a few flowers for Marlene´s birthday tomorrow and he couldn´t go out in the park alone after dark. Rico was playing basket ball with Mason, Joey and the gorillas. The scientist stood up, following his leader out. "You´re sure you´re okay?" Skipper asked, nothing but concern reflecting in his voice. It was gentler than usually, the other noted. "Yes, sir." He forced himself to a cheerful smile and grabbed Private´s flipper. "Come on, Private. Let´s go and pick flowers for…" "Marlene´s birthday." "Yeah, yeah right." Their leader watched them go, a worried frown still plastered on his face. He wished his lieutenant would open up to him just once. ´It is probably nothing. Maybe one of his crazy science stages or Doris.´ He thought, making a mental note to prepare himself for anything the genius will come up with in the next couple of days.

"I wish my uncle Nigel will come for a visit again. It was a smashing adventure! Especially how the Red Squirrel attacked us." Private chatted happily, picking tulips and other flowers that bloom in this season. Kowalski nodded, trying hard to forget the flashbacks. He didn´t know why he had them, but didn´t want to go to sleep and dream of his past again. Back then, he had always blamed himself for being the world´s most terriblest failure for a son. Now he saw whose fault it really was. If only his mother could´ve been there when he needed her the most. What had become of her, he wouldn´t know. His father either ignored him or gotten angry and slapped him if he brought the subject up. Private talked carefree, not realizing that they weren´t just two anymore. And Kowalski was too much in his dream world to see it too. Until, he bumped into someone. "Pardons…" He murmured, stumbling away. "Watch where you´re going!" An older penguin who didn´t look too unalike to Kowalski, but had green eyes and a long, thick black stripe running right through his white chest, grabbed his wing and turned him around. Their eyes met for a second, but that was all the penguin needed to see. He gasped, pulling away. The other´s feature´s lifted in shock. "Kowalski? Is that you?" Private joined up with the two. "Hey, Kowalski. Who´s this?" His friend ignored him. "What are you doing here?" He asked unemotionally and stiff, almost expecting a punishment for his rudeness. It didn´t came. Instead, his father _smiled_. "I came to see my son!" He was about to hug the scientist, but he pulled away. "I am not your son." Kowalski replied coldly and slid away, leaving the two standing there.

A\N: Review if you liked the story, please! ^_~

~ Contestant 4# over and out. (wow, haven´t said that in a loooong time! xP)


	3. Get away

A\N: Thanks for reviewing! §x) It´s awesome coming to a page and seeing people had brought in feedback!

Private took Kowalski´s dad over to the penguin´s HQ. He couldn´t understand why Kowalski had reacted like that. He talked to the elder, and the penguin seemed very, very nice and polite. He kept apologizing to the boy, saying he should come back in a more appropriate time. "No, no it´s alright. Kowalski had a tough day today." Private assured him, hoping he was doing the right thing. "Hey guys!" The Brit jumped down. Skipper turned toward him, his smile fading. "STRANGER!" He yelled and within seconds, Rico had tackled the other penguin down on the floor. "No, Skippah! This is Kowalski´s dad!" Private began tugging on his friend. "Kowalski´s father?" Skipper stood up from his chair. "Papa?" Rico looked at the squished penguin. "Y-y-es." He couldn´t breathe. Skipper signaled Rico to get off and walked over suspiciously. "What´s your name?" "Anthony."

"So…you´re Kowalski´s father?" The leader circled him before staring straight in his eyes. The other didn´t back down. "What´s his name?" Anthony almost rolled his eyes. "Kowalski." "What´s his greatest fear?" "He doesn´t have one." He didn´t know of any. Not like Kowalski would ever complain at the doctor or dentist at his presence. "What´s his eye color?" "Sky-blue." "Where´s his birthmark?" "On the inside of his flipper." Skipper stepped back and smiled warmly. "I´m Skipper." The two men shook wings before the officer introduced him to the others. "Why are you here anyway?" Private asked after Anthony got invited for dinner and the three watched Rico prepare the herrings. "I wanted to see my son again…and tell him something very important." "Like what?" Skipper turned to look at Private. "Soldier!" "No, it´s okay. I wanted to let him know….I´m sorry about how I treated him…"

Kowalski kicked pebbles away angrily. An old feeling came up inside of him. It was something he knew from his childhood and it almost felt good, feeling it again. It was the frustration that came whenever he faced his dad, or whenever he knew he had no chance against his lies. He was probably coming with the same heart-bleeding lie. _"I´m so sorry, Kowalski! I know how I treated you and I want to apologize to you! Do you think you will ever manage to forgive me for what I´ve done?" _ The genius kicked another stone away. He was probably brain-washing his friends right now. Another kick, this time, Kowalski forgot to look at the pebble and stubbed his toes at a huge rock. "OW! Ow! Oh sweet Doris that hurt!" Kowalski jumped around, holding his foot before falling. He inspected his toes, seeing some blood dripping from a talon that got smashed into the hard matter. "I gotta get home…" He muttered, limping over to the zoo.

When he got there, he heard some talking and laughing. His father was there, probably managing to convince his friends that he´s a poor, guilty dad with the wish to seek his son´s forgiveness. Kowalski limped back, straight to Marlene´s. The otter was chilling in her cave, in the middle of writing a song. "Hey Kowalski! What´s u- what happened to your foot?" "It boxed with some pebbles. The last pebble won." The penguin said seriously. Marlene laughed even though the joke was said without any humor. "So why come to me? Your habitat is nearer." Kowalski shook his head furiously. Marlene looked at him curiously, before putting the sheet and the pen down and trotting over to the back table. As she was searching around for some bandages, Kowalski took her sheet of paper and looked at it. He frowned, forgetting the girl and wondering how it will sound. He sat down and picked up the guitar. The penguin started strumming it, playing the intro. Marlene whirled around. "Kowalski! What are you doing with that?" She then stopped, hearing the notes flowing out sweetly and deeply from the feathered flippers. The penguin frowned again in concentration, starting to sing the song quietly.

"You are gravity, cuz you pull me down. You are the rain and I´m the earth beneath you. In case you want to know, as I was trying to hate you, I succeeded. I had tried, not to cover our good times." The otter blushed at the voice, not having expected to hear her words come out like that. "To glue them, hold them tight, place them at my bed. And put them in a frame." Kowalski was still in his own world. "But luck had left us, you couldn´t help yourself! I threw your picture at the wall, I want it to break. It slips from my grasp. Now only we are left. In a sea of ruins." Marlene went over, sitting beside the penguin, who came back to earth. "Oh, sorry Marlene, I didn´t-" He gave the instrument back to the otter. "Why´d you stop playing?" Marlene asked. "Well, mainly because I didn´t come here for a live concert." Kowalski said, also smiling before taking the bandage and starting to wrap it around his wound. Marlene laid the guitar away and watched him. "Great song. But why did you write it?" Marlene shrugged. "I got hit by inspiration…" Silence fell over the cave again. "Thanks again, Marlene. I am grateful for your kindness." The penguin gave her another soft smile before disappearing into the night. The girl noted a slight hint of trouble in his features.

The talking halted when the door opened. Kowalski kept his gaze away as he walked over to his bunk. The room was filled with an awkward silence. After a while, Skipper cleared his throat, making everyone look at him. "Kowalski," He started gently, but a certain firmness in his voice. "Why don´t you join us at dinner?" The genius looked up, staring at the empty seat next to Private for a second, before wordlessly walking over to the others. Private successfully picked up the conversation again, even though it was still very uncomfortable. Especially with Kowalski´s silent attitude and Anthony´s nervous one.

A\N: Yeah, srry for the short chappie. xD R&R PLZ! §X]


	4. Tense

A\N: Since the last chapter was so short, I wrote the next one too. =}

The five penguins sat around the table, passing food, talking and glaring. Well, no, Kowalski did that one. Anthony decided it was ruining the mood and tried to start a conversation with his son. "So, Kowalski…" The name kinda felt weird in his beak. "How do you like it here?" "It´s nice, better than Antarctica." The penguin returned. "I´m glad to hear that…" Anthony nodded, going back to his food. "Kowalski, your father had come a long way…" Skipper started. "Wouldn´t you two like to sit alone and catch up on things?" "Oh yes! I created a monster that almost ate up the whole zoo, blew up our HQ multiple times and I´m on the road to madness! Are you proud of me?" Skipper scowled, wanting to slap his soldier for being so childish. "Kowalski-" "Look, son. I know how I treated you was wrong-" "And I want to say I´m sorry!" Kowalski interrupted. "You said exactly those words back at the university. Looks like you haven´t changed at all." "Kowalski!" Skipper snapped. "No, Skipper, I´m sorry, but this isn´t any of your business. Look, Anthony, I don´t care if you´re really feeling guilty this time, which would be rather hard because you don´t actually have feelings!" Anthony stood up too, but didn´t move, not even blinking at the verbal attack from his son. "You just filled my childhood up with pain and lies, making me believe I wasn´t good enough to be your child! It took me ages to finally convince myself that I never was the problem! It was you! And the truth is, you´re the one not worthy!" Kowalski slid out and slammed the door to his lab shut so hard, that the ground shook. Private and Rico were too shocked to move, while Skipper turned toward Anthony again. "It was a mistake coming here…" The father quietly said. Before anyone could convince him to stay, his flippers were already in theirs, shaking them. "It was nice to get to know you." The elder saluted Skipper before climbing out of the hatch. Skipper sat down again, glancing at the lab door. "Should I go talk to him, Skippah?" The Brit offered, but his leader shook his head. "Not now, Private."

Kowalski rested his head in his flippers, staring at the scorched wall. Even though his conscience started to whisper again, he felt like he hadn´t expressed himself well enough. "I hate him." Kowalski groaned, resting his head in his flippers, also hating the way he yelled at his father and how he couldn´t get his feelings under control. Skipper was probably really mad at him. The scientist sighed, wishing that Jiggles were here. He missed the Jell-o cube, but more, he needed someone to talk to. Someone who won´t talk back and always agrees with him. (of course, Jiggle always agreed with him, only when the fruits\whipped cream kept coming) Kowalski lay his head down on the table, taking in the familiar smell of ashes, science and soap that didn´t help much against the stains. Soon, he fell asleep, unaware of what was going to happen in a few hours.

Anthony walked through the park, wanting to get back home as soon as possible. Home was the Bronx Zoo, where he had been moved to about a month ago. Maybe he´ll try another time. He couldn´t give up on his son. Anthony was just thinking that, he knew Kowalski won´t ever forgive him. While it was true he had tried to win Kowalski´s trust back at a certain university and then misused it again, he really was sorry. ´I never was good with words…´ He thought, rounding a corner. He passed a duck family that were peacefully sleeping in a nest, the mother spreading her wings out. Anthony smiled at the cute sight.

"Well, the boss said to get a tall penguin who had a special design on his feathers." Red Two told his buddy. The two lobsters were searching for that special penguin, hoping he wasn´t like the four, kicking their heads before they could blink. Red Five shrugged, holding the tazer between his claws.

Skipper knocked quietly at Kowalski´s door. "Soldier?" Nothing. The leader hated being ignored, so he pushed the door open. The genius was sleeping soundly on his desk. Skipper smiled, before sighing and getting behind him. The two penguins never talked much about personal stuff like their past or childhood, ect. Skipper because some of his memories weren´t some he liked to recall, others might give the team a whole other image of him. Kowalski never had been a penguin of many words when it came to personal experiences, Doris as an exception of course. The leader picked the much taller bird up with great difficulty, carrying him into his bunk, where the other two were joining them.

Anthony was not too far away from the exit now, shivering as the cold breeze floated over him. It was a cold night, something below zero. Suddenly, muffled clicks, click_, click, clicks _on the grass filled the air. But before the father had a chance to turn around or indentify the noise, white-hot pain shot through him, disabling the penguin long enough for the salt-water couple to pick him up and carry him away.

A\N: Think of this as a part two of the last chapter. xP Yeah, I know they are short, but some stories have short chapters. $.´} Hope you enjoyed and please leave a comment on your way out. K:D


	5. Threat

A\N: RIP BlueWolf88. He died several months ago, but I only heard about his death today. He was a good friend of my sister, and the author of the Monster Rapper. Also, hoping for a strong heart for his girlfriend.

Dr. Blowhole ´paced´ around on his segway, waiting for his lobster´s return. "Seriously! What is taking them so long?" "Maybe they ran into the team." Red One offered. Just then, the door opened and the two minions entered, carrying a penguin´s body with them. "Finally! Did you get him?" The dolphin rolled over, taking a good look at Anthony. He stopped cold at the sight of him. "Who´s that?" The evil genius asked, frowning. "The penguin you wanted." Blowhole stared at Anthony´s chest mark and face-flippered. "I did not mean any penguin! Didn´t I give you a clear…forget it…the penguin I wanted was Nigel!" The two blinked. "Who´s that?" Red Five asked. Blowhole glared intensely at him. "Ohhhh…" He now remembered the British penguin they were talking about. Suddenly, Anthony began to stir. "Throw him in a cage until I´ve decided what to do with him." Blowhole hissed through gritted teeth. "Yes, sir." One lobster said. "And don´t call me sir! It reminds me of…him." The sea mammal shuddered violently. "Yes, doc." Another answered and got a glare from the master. He had found the small sarcasm in his minion´s voice. Anthony sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Ow, my head…what happened? Where am I?" He stared at the lobsters and Dr. Blowhole. "Who are you? Where´s Kowalski?" The evil genius would´ve had rolled away when he caught the name of his arch-rival…one of his arch-rivals. "You know Kowalski?" Blowhole steered his segway back to the cage, dark curiosity showing in his face. "Don´t you think I would know my own son?" The penguin spat back. Blowhole turned around as if he lost interest, but instead, smiled wickedly.

Skipper was wordlessly cleaning off the table, Private helping him. The whole team hadn´t spoken much since Kowalski yelled at his father. Kowalski begin to move around in his bunk. The scientist opened his eyes, his gaze randomly moving toward the TV, only to get a nasty surprise. "Blowhole!" He jumped up, flippers shooting up into a fighting stance. Skipper turned, seeing the marine-mammal and pushed the off-button. Nothing happened. Skipper pressed it again and again but couldn´t turn off Blowhole. The genius grew annoyed at the lack of attention and the pushing of buttons, so he pressed his own button at his segway. Skipper jumped back as the next knob sent painful electricity up his flipper. "Very well, peng-u-ins. Ready now?" "For what? To bore ourselves to death while listening to your i´m-so-powerful-and-amazing-come-and-listen-to-my-plan speech?" Skipper rolled his eyes mockingly. Blowhole growled lowly. "Alright, fine then. I´ll leave." He turned around, grinning. "Really? Awesome!" He hated how Skipper taunted him. The dolphin rolled out of the way, letting the penguins have a good look at his prisoner, who sat in the cage, his legs pulled to his chest. Kowalski stood up and rushed to the TV. "Dad?" That got the other´s attention, and to their horror, they recognized Anthony. "How about now? Are you willing to listen?" Blowhole now had the upper hand. He smirked. "Shoot." Skipper growled through his clenched beak. "Alright, you know what I want, so just give it to me and I swear, not one feather will be ruffled of Kowalski´s precious father." "What do you want?" Private asked innocently. Their arch-enemy rolled over to the other side so he could look at the young Brit straightly. "Your retirement." "Huh?" Skipper groaned lightly before explaining. "He wants us to stop stopping him so he could destroy the world." "Or, maybe just as long till I have my revenge on the humans!" The evil doctor cut in. "Negative." Blowhole shrugged. "Fine, then expect the worst for...actually, I didn´t quite catch your name." Anthony glared at the other. "Anthony." "Right, Then expect the worst for Anthony!" Then the laugh echoed as the screen faded black.

Skipper rubbed the underside of his beak so hard that it shone when he removed his flippers and placed them behind his back, pacing. The others stood attention, Kowalski slumping a little, since he had just woken up. Then the leader stopped, resting his flipper back on his beak, thinking hard before going into the other room. He came back with a few tools. He gave Private a bow and arrow(forgot the other name for it), Rico a flamethrower and was about to hand\flipper the grenade belt to his second lieutenant, when two wings rejected the weapons. "I´m not going." The scientist responded. "But Kowalski!" Private protested, even Rico was shocked. "Walski, no!" "Why not soldier?" Skipper asked coolly, looking the other directly into his eyes. Kowalski lowered his own. "I have my reasons and I would appreciate it when you won´t ask for them." His leader watched him for a few more moments, before nodding. "Okay, I just hope you know what you´re doing." Skipper responded, disappointment showing clearly in his voice. Kowalski nodded, then walked back to his bunk. Private and Rico watched him go, until their officer snapped them back to attention. "Focus, team." He took a dagger, leaving Kowalski´s belt on the floor. Soon they were topside, and the genius was alone. For a second, Kowalski wanted to bang his head against the wall and ask, no yell what on earth was wrong with him, but was too exhausted for it. He heard Skipper and the guys shake up the soda real good, then take off with a hissing sound. Then emptiness surrounded him. Kowalski tried to go back to sleep, but the strong, obnoxious whispering of the empty, silent HQ wouldn´t let him. The scientist opened his eyes, and looked around, till they rested on the grenade belt on the floor.

The penguins landed in the second row, throwing off their packs. "Oh, dang it! Well, at least we´ve got the second row." Private commented and earned a slap from Skipper. "Focus! Blowhole is expecting us and probably had set up traps everywhere!" The others nodded and with Skipper leading, entered the lair. "How do we know where the fish put the traps?" Skipper asked, more to himself. "I am NOT a fish!" Then a cage dropped upon our penguins.

A\N: R&R!


	6. Fighting

A\N: The show isn´t mine! You should know that by now! XDD

Blowhole came out of the shadows, glaring at Skipper. "I´m a mammal!" Skipper rolled his eyes, before glaring back. "You have flippers, you live in the water, and you´re just as ugly as a fish!" "Says the black snow chicken!" "Why does everyone call me a chicken? I´m a penguin!" "And I´m a mam-" Uhm, guys?" Private quietly interrupted the fight. "Couldn´t you fight after we rescued Anthony?" "You´re right," Skipper gave his enemy one last glare. "I´ll get back to you." "Likewise!" Anthony rolled his eyes. He wished they would just get on with it already! He then turned toward the group and realized Kowalski wasn´t with them.

"Alright, bottle nose! You know what we came here for! Release him now!" Skipper shouted, pointing at Anthony with a thin flipper. "You really think it´s that easy?" Blowhole began rolling towards the controls. He had changed the controls on the locks, so that he´d have to scan his flipper and no lemur could accidently free his flightless foes. Flightless…another idea for the chicken arguemen- "It´s not that easy!" Blowhole shoved the thoughts away for later. "That´s good, because easy isn´t how we roll!" Skipper´s voice responded from the cage. "You´ll have to give your job up for the safe release of the hostage!" "Never!" "Fine then, have it your way." "What are you going to do?" Private asked innocently, distracting the villain. "I will force you to do anything I want you to!" He rolled over to Kowalski´s father, talking and not noticing how the penguins worked silently on the locks. "With Anthony here, you won´t be able to make a wrong move.

With you annoying peng-u-ins tucked safely away, I will release my newest creation, which is still WIP*, btw. It´s a violent, bloodthirsty robot, high tech and only obeys my voice! It will destroy all the human´s strong military points and Headquarters, leaving them weak and vulnerable. That´s when I get my revenge for the years of jumping through burning hoops, torturing innocent animals, testing on them for their own selfish uses, and making this earth to hell! With them gone, I will rebuild the world and rule it, thus getting rid of anyone that stands in my way, like you peng-u-ins or that obnoxious lemur king or-" "DREAM ON BOTTLE NOSED FREAK!" Skipper shouted triumphal from the top of a cage. Blowhole stared at them. "How di-" He turned to glare at Rico, who grinned back cheekily.

"Lobsters! Attaaaack!" He yelled, furious. They are NOT going to ruin his plans again! And unlike last time, (and all the other times) he fought too. Well, with lasers, but he was involved in the action. Skipper dodged the deadly beams, flipping over already out lobsters and on top of boxes. Blowhole shot at him, mad at the ruins of his plans. Skipper thought with having the evil doctor distracted, the others can get Anthony. But the lobsters were better trained than last time and kept them busy.

Kowalski rolled over in his bunk. The guys…maybe they needed him! Maybe his father was in cahoots with Blowhole…maybe they were outnumbered, overpowered, maybe someone was dead! Kowalski shot up straight in his bunk, then lay back immediately, groaning in pain. He had forgotten the low ceilings. Rubbing his head, the scientist got out of bed. He had to get to his friends ASAP. He quickly turned the lights off and climbed up to the fishbowl. Kowalski slid out of the zoo, thinking about how this was probably a trap, how his father had purposely visited him and how on earth he would fight Blowhole all by himself.

"_Dad?" The little penguin waddled in. His father barely looked up from his ice block, where their fees stood written. "What?" He growled. Kowalski fiddled with his flippers, trying to find courage. "How did Mom die?" He asked finally. Anthony turned to glare at the chick. "Who said she died?" The grey creature shrugged. "She´s never here and never visits...and I thought…she might have died." Anthony rolled his eyes, then took another sip from his bottle. Kowalski stood there patiently, waiting for an answer. About an hour later, his father realized he was still standing there. "What do you want?" He barked. Kowalski jumped. "I´m waiting for an answer." Anthony growled. "Don´t get smart with me!" He stood up and towered over his frightened son. "She ran! She ran away from me and her problems!" Anthony turned again, muttering under his breath. "And left me her biggest problem to take care of." Kowalski heard him. He slowly walked out. _

Skipper punched a lobster back. "Someone go free Anthony!" He yelled, then as he got no answer, he turned. Private was begin crushed underneath a lobster, while Rico was trying to get him out. The leader chewed his options. He then punched another lobster into black out and slid over to the cage. He didn´t get far when suddenly a red-brownish lasers stopped him. The leader looked up from his place on the floor to spy Blowhole behind his newest inventions. It looked like the front half of a jeep was glued together with a nook for standing behind, and a huge, long cone coming out of the front window. In other words, it looked weird. "Introducing, my death ray!"

"Death ray? Pretty lame title!" Skipper snorted. Blowhole smiled sweetly. "Maybe so, but it does it´s work and it does it good!" He fired again, making the penguin dance all over the lair. Anthony winced as the beam came pretty close to Skipper. He looked over to where Private and Rico were. The two had managed to get Private out from underneath a lobster, but somehow, the maniac had gotten buried under a pile of them, while the youngster was surrounded by some reds. One lobster picked him up by the scruff of his neck and threw him against a wall, where he remained motionless. "Private!" Anthony called out in pain of seeing him hit the stone boulder.

continued with firing at Skipper before he had cornered the penguin into a crook. "I guess this time there´s no happy ending, right, Skipper?" Blowhole taunted, putting his flipper on the trigger. "Don´t be too smug, fish-face!" Skipper replied, raising an eyebrow. "You know what they say. Pride comes before a fall." The leader watched out of the corner of his eye as Kowalski snuck into the battlefield, trying not to direct any attention toward himself. Blowhole just grinned. "We´ll see…" He said and released the safety of his weapon. "HIYA!" Kowalski tackled the dolphin to the floor, getting into a wrestling match with him. Skipper slid over to his hurt men, kicking the rest of the lobsters into dreamland before checking on Private and Rico, who thankfully hadn´t taken too much damage.

The two geniuses were rolling on the floor, till Kowalski took an advantage and knocked him out. "Well done, soldier!" Skipper cheered. Kowalski gave him a light half-smile before turning towards his locked up father, who was smiling proudly, clutching the bars. Proud. Of him. Kowalski slid over, jumping and landing on top of the cage with a few swift moves. He began picking the lock. The scientist never made eye contact with the prisoner, though. The door swung open in a few moments. Anthony walked up to the entrance, stopping right in front of the penguin. He looked like he wanted to say something, when suddenly, "Kowalski! Watch out!" Private shrieked from under him.

Blowhole had somehow managed to pull himself to his invention with his last ounces of strength. The penguin genius turned around too late. He saw the beam heading right toward his chest. A faint scream was heard from below. Kowalski closed his eyes, then fell to the ground hard.

A\N: Yeah, well I am trying to focus to get this story and my story with Blue done, so I´ll have time to finish other stories too and _maybe_ start new ones. Maybe…R&R! *= Work In Progress


	7. Chapter 7

A\N: The last chapter of the story. I´ve decided to put everything together becuz it´ll be longer and easier. Btw, this chapter is very sad (as sad as I can make it right now, I´m not too good at that stuff) there´s death and depressions in here.

Kowalski felt a dull pain shoot through his head as he fell backwards and hit his head on the cement floor. But it was nothing like the unbearable white-hot pain…that he never felt. Kowalski got up from the place to where his father had pushed him aside and saw Anthony lieing on the floor, clutching his middle where blood was seeping out of the wound. "YOU-" Skipper was too angry to finish. He tackled the smirking dolphin to the ground. "Not my intentions but good enough." Skipper growled lowly before knocking his arch out cold. "Rico, give me some rope!" The maniac did as he was told and the leader turned toward his soldier. "Kowalski?" The penguin awoke from his horrified stare.

"Dad!" The genius rushed over to him. "Oh no! No, no! This is really bad!" He kneeled next to his father, inspecting the dripping wound. "K-Kow-walski! G-go!" Anthony gave him a weak shove. "I d-don´t want you g-get hurt!" "Blowhole won´t cause us any trouble anymore." Skipper replied grimly, after having helped Rico and Private tie the doctor up. The elder shook his head though and rasped something, barely audible. "What?" Kowalski leaned down, clutching the bloody flipper. "H-he-" Anthony wheezed suddenly, and cringed from the extreme pain. "H-he placed b-bomb, o-only have mi-minute!" "He´s gonna blow this place up!" Skipper translated. He immediately looked around for anything left unfinished before grabbing Private´s flipper. "We have to leave now!" "What about my dad?" Kowalski yelled at his leader. **"Self-destruct in fifteen seconds."** Came the robotic voice. "L-leave me!" The scientist turned back to his father who tried pushing him towards the exit. "I´m not going to leave you!" **"Ten seconds."** "GO!" Skipper grabbed Rico too, seeing the weapon expert a little disturbed by the whole thing and not paying attention. "Bu-but-but-!" Anthony gave his son a weak, but loving smile. "I l-love you, d-don´t forget th-that! I´m s-sorry for not be-being a go-good father." "I love you too! More than anything on the world!" Kowalski sobbed, hugging his father. **"Five…four…" **"G-go now!" The last thing Kowalski remembered was seeing his father brace himself for the final moments of his life while Skipper was dragging him away. Then it hit. Debris shattered everywhere, the tense heat of the flames singeing their feathers and smoke filling their eyes and lungs. The penguins got to safety, and hid under the stage as the humans hurried to get the fire put out. "I´m sorry soldier." Skipper turned toward Kowalski. The scientist nodded, gasping for a shaky breath, before breaking down and crying till he was too exhausted and fell asleep. Skipper picked Kowalski up, which was kind of difficult because first he was taller than the leader and second, Private was holding his flipper in an iron grip, in pure horror of what he experienced. Rico helped him and they slowly made their way back to the zoo.

When Kowalski woke up, he was begging fate to tell him it was a bad dream. But the pain in his chest from crying and the smoke made it clear it wasn´t. No one was in the main room with him. Looking around, Kowalski could hear voices from his lab. Sleep drunk, he went in and saw Skipper, Private and Rico inspecting something black and burned. "What´s that?" The genius stepped closer before it clicked. He stared at the carcass as the other penguins didn´t know what to do. "We meant to put him into a coffin before you saw." Skipper said, awkwardly. "It´s...it´s okay." Kowalski wiped away the fresh tears that had sprouted again and sighed. "When are you guys going the funeral?" "Is today´s afternoon too early?" Private asked, checking the calendar. "No, it´s-it´s fine." The genius slowly waddled out.

Everyone came to the funeral. Marlene too, even though it was in the park. No one cared more or less about that fact though. Rico had picked out a beautiful black coffin that had black roses carved on its sides and golden roses on the lock. Mason spoke the prayer as everyone respectfully bowed their heads. Kowalski opened his eyes during the time the chimp was talking to glare at the sun. It´s almost like it was taunting him with it´s warm rays and bright light. Rain was cliché alright, but was always helpful when the mood is lower than the ocean´s depths. "Amen." It sounded from the others. Kowalski looked up when someone put their hand on his shoulder. He saw Marlene smiling sadly at him, almost comforting him. The ceremony continued, it almost seemed half-hearted with the whole sadness packed into it. Kowalski kept feeling people looking at him, some helpless to say anything, others walking up and hugging him or patting his back.

"Soldier?" The other looked up to see his leader waiting for him at the grave. Kowalski trotted forward, grabbing a flipper full of dirt and letting it rain down from his wing onto the black coffin. He just stared at it while the others also threw in a paw\flipper-full of dirt in before closing the entire grave.

The rest of the day, everyone went out of Kowalski´s way, it seemed like the whole zoo was coated in gloom. Finally, the sun went down, decorating the sky as it struggled to stay alive, before the moon took over, bathing the entire place in a ghostly, pale shimmer. The glow illuminated the water of the penguin´s habitat, casting an eerie look whenever someone looked out the window and saw the glowing water. The HQ itself was silent except for the soft breathing of the penguins. Skipper had his head buried under his pillow, almost as if he tried to prevent anything to wake him up. Rico was hugging Mrs. Perky while Private sucked on his flipper, curled into a tiny ball. Kowalski lay on his side, flipper over face while he moved around in discomfort. Of course, such experience wasn´t really the most pleasant one. Anthony´s short visit still lingered in the air. It was, other than the burned corpse, the closest thing he had of his father, even though sadly, the memory wasn´t a good one. But he´ll move on, he has too. That´s what his father would want him to do.

_Kowalski…I…just wanted to say I love you. I didn´t want our relationship to end like that, I wish I could go back in time to fix my mistakes. But that´s not possible. I´m proud to be called your father and hope my death won´t scar you all too much. I hope one day you´ll find someone to start a family with. I just wish I could see your face when you do, when you hold your child for the first time and when you watch it learn and grow. I know you´ll make a great father. Goodbye now, I love you. Remember though, that goodbye isn´t the end._

_With much love,_

_Anthony_

A\N: Sorry if someone didn´t like the ending or thought it was too cheesy. I tried my hardest not to make it cheesy though. Songs I was listening to while writing this was by Epica: "Solitary ground" and "Higher High". Two sad, amazing songs by the Dutch band! XD Thanks for reading all of you and goodbye for now!


End file.
